Abnormal sperm morphology in mouse germ cells after short-term exposures to acetamiprid, propineb, and their mixture.

Pesticides are one of the most potent environmental contaminants, which accumulate in biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems. Acetamiprid (Acm), a neonicotinoid insecticide, and Propineb (Pro), a dithiocarbamate fungicide, are widely used to control sucking insects and fungal infections on crops, respectively. The present study was undertaken to investigate the genotoxic effects of these compounds, individually and in mixtures, in mouse germ cells by using the sperm morphology assay. Mice were injected intraperitoneally with 0.625, 1.25, and 2.50 μg mL⁻¹ of Acm, 12.5, 25, and 50 μg mL⁻¹ of Pro, and their mixture at the same concentrations over 24 and 48 h. Acm did not significantly increase the percentage of abnormal sperm at any concentration. The frequency of abnormal sperm significantly increased after 24 and 48 h of exposure to 50 μg mL⁻¹ of Pro. The mixtures of 2.50 μg mL⁻¹ of Acm and 50 μg mL⁻¹ of Pro induced sperm abnormalities antagonistically both after 24 and 48 h of exposure. Results suggest that Acm was non-genotoxic for mouse germ cells, while Pro may have been a germ cell mutagen due to the observed increase in the frequency of sperm abnormalities. However, to gain better insight into the mutagenicity and DNA damaging potential of both of these pesticides, further studies at molecular level should be done.